AS his ties with the Maharashtra BJP leadership continue to face turbulence, Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde’s frequent flying trips to Delhi have not gone unnoticed. However, the law of diminishing returns may have caught up with Shinde now.
The state BJP appears to have dug its heels in, in response to the “pressure tactics” by the Shiv Sena chief, whose visits to Delhi are usually followed by photographs of him with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
The latest such meeting was of Shinde and his entire family with Modi and Shah on August 6, within days of a previous visit by the Deputy CM to Delhi.
Days later, the Sena’s demand for guardian ministership of Raigad and Nashik districts for its leaders Bharat Gogawale and Dadasaheb Bhuse was snubbed by CM Devendra Fadnavis.
The two consequently stayed away from the Independence Day events in their respective districts, with NCP minister Aditi Tatkare hoisting the Tricolour at Raigad and BJP minister Girish Mahajan doing so at Nashik. Gogawale took a leaf out of Shinde’s book and headed to Delhi, but his reported attempt at an audience with the central leadership went in vain.
Shinde himself spent the Independence Day in Kashmir, in what was seen as a protest gesture by him. He also skipped a recent Cabinet meeting.
Asked about his trips to Delhi, Shinde recently said: “I often visit the Capital during Parliament sessions. Since we are alliance partners in the NDA, we discuss important issues related to Parliament. I also place before central leaders important issues related to Maharashtra.” Shinde’s son Shrikant Shinde is an MP.
However, a senior BJP functionary said Shinde’s strategy was now transparent. “He flies to Delhi whenever the Shiv Sena feels it is at the receiving end of a slight. He tries to defuse challenges on the home turf by getting an audience with the central leadership.”
Senior Sena leader Sanjay Shirsat said it was wrong to read meanings into Shinde’s Delhi visits. “Shinde is the Sena chief and the Deputy CM of Maharashtra. So, his visits to Delhi and meetings with top leaders are natural.”
Since the Mahayuti’s return to power, Shinde has been at odds with the state BJP leadership. First, he held out hoping he would be made CM again, like in the previous government – in recognition of his role in splitting the Shiv Sena and delivering the numbers to the BJP to come to power. But the BJP did not budge. Shinde was then unhappy with the portfolios that came his way, his unease compounded by the apparently easier chemistry between Fadnavis and his other Deputy CM, Ajit Pawar of the NCP.
Fadnavis has refused to lie low in the face of Shinde’s Delhi outreach. A day after Independence Day events, he toured the Mumbai and Thane regions participating in Dahi Handi celebrations; Thane is Shinde’s home turf.
BJP minister Ganesh Naik added to the provocation by declaring that there should be “only lotus (the BJP’s poll symbol)” in Thane. Naik, whose rivalry with Shinde is well-known, also said at a recent public event: “Eknath Shinde won a lottery (when he became CM)… What matters is how a person achieves a position and retains it. In his case, he could not.”
Another BJP leader, MLC Parinay Phuke, recently declared himself “the father of the Shiv Sena”, leading to the party seeking an apology from him.
Over in coastal Konkan too, the feud between the Sena and BJP for political upmanship has intensified. BJP minister Nitish Rane and Sena minister Uday Samant are at loggerheads over control of Sindhudurg and Ratnagiri.
The Konkan region was earlier the stronghold of the undivided Sena, particularly its then leader Narayan Rane. Now, Rane and his sons including Nitish are in the BJP.
NCP leaders claim the reason Pawar is better placed than Shinde in the power sweepstakes is that he has been quick to act against ministers straying out of line, be it Dhananjay Munde, who was once his close associate, or Manikrao Kokate.
In comparison, BJP insiders speak about Shinde’s “reluctance” to act against ministers, attributing this to his “insecurity” that it may lead to a revolt within the Sena.
Sena leaders, on the other hand, see charges against the party’s ministers as a deliberate ploy to undermine his stature.
A senior Sena MP, requesting anonymity, said: “Why are only Shiv Sena ministers targeted over corruption? Why is the Opposition not exposing any misdeeds of BJP ministers? It is obvious the Opposition is being fed material by insiders to target Sena ministers.”